


Survival of the Ultimate

by Stariceling



Category: Sonic X, Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-03-10
Updated: 2010-03-10
Packaged: 2017-12-06 00:28:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/729593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stariceling/pseuds/Stariceling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Disoriented and trapped in an unknown place, Shadow wakes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Survival of the Ultimate

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place... at some point after the "ARK" arc. Will use some elements and characters from Sonic X canon.
> 
> Rated mature for expected violence in later chapters. Will update warnings and tags as I get further in.

How long had he been gone?

It was only with a glacially slow perseverance that Shadow became aware of himself once again. He was disoriented by his own weightlessness. After once spending what they told him was fifty years in stasis it was a far too familiar feeling.

That must be where he was now. Buried in some government facility? Being studied as a specimen in a lab? In the end it probably didn’t matter. He might as well be a mind floating without a body for all he could feel himself while hovering between dreams and awareness. Shadow remained drifting without any idea of his own where or when.

From experience Shadow didn’t expect more than that half-aware realization of his own existence. He suspected in retrospect that the last time he’d been held in stasis there had been some sedative used on him. It had left him too drowsy to move, even if he was aware of himself for an instant at a time.

Instead his awareness continued and strengthened with time. Shadow slowly realized that it wasn’t sedatives keeping him from moving. His body was immobilized. If he concentrated he could feel the bonds around his arms and legs and up his back.

There was the pressure of a mask strapped over his muzzle. Whatever discomfort he felt from that was made up for by it allowing him to breathe normal air instead of forcing his lungs to handle the viscous liquid around him.

For some reason the ability to feel his own body did nothing to banish the floating sensation. Now it wasn’t just his mind drifting in a void, but his whole self feeling weightless and lost.

Whatever the surroundings felt like, this was his body. Shadow managed to crack his eyes open.

Everything was blurry at first, but there was light and dark and an unmistakable feeling that the world around him was real enough to be seen. At least, he could see the curved shapes of close walls and the vague outline of a shadowy figure in front of him.

Focus took more time than Shadow could measure out in his head, but brought more sense into his narrow world. The shadow in front of him sharpened into his own reflection in a wall of mirrored glass. Shadow saw what had happened to his body, and that was enough to hold his attention.

He really was floating, buoyed up by green-tinted liquid. He’d been half sure the feeling of immobilized limbs was still an effect of sedatives, but now he could see he was physically bound. Hard braces fitted around his limbs and joints, making movement impossible. He could see the mask he’d felt too, covering his muzzle and the lower part of his face.

There were other things he could see but not feel. His quills were shorter than they should be, and the black fur covering his body was thin in places, showing raw patches of half-healed burns. Either he was still too numb in the head for pain or the liquid around him was soothing his hurts. Shadow honestly didn’t care.

Tubes and wires bristled from his body. As his vision sharpened Shadow could actually see tubing burrowed under his skin and into arteries. If he could have moved he would have ripped those out without hesitation.

He did try, but his body wouldn’t respond. He could hardly move enough to close his eyes and peel them open again.

There was a dark spot on the mirrored wall in front of him, the print of a hand pressed into the glass. Shadow knew someone was there on the other side, watching him even now. He could only stare into the reflection of his own blood-red eyes instead of facing down his captor directly.

Shadow was determined then that whoever had trapped him in this place, bound him up with hardware and shot unknown drugs right into his bloodstream, he would deliver payback to them.

With that in mind, Shadow allowed his eyes to close again. He was aware, and that was all he needed to start. He had his mind and his body and his patience, and sooner or later he would be free.


End file.
